As the second leading cause of injuries in the United States, slip and falls are very common. When you're a tenant, your landlord bears certain responsibility for ensuring that the property is as hazard-free as possible. When you experience injuries from a slip and fall due to landlord negligence, you have the right to file a lawsuit for compensation for your injuries.

Causes of Slip and Fall Injuries

Many conditions can cause you to sustain injuries from a slip and fall. Some examples include cracks in the sidewalk or driveway, broken steps on stairs, poorly lit stairs and stairwells, slippery or wet floors, and snowy or icy conditions. If you believe your injury from a slip and fall was caused by your landlord's negligence, you can file a lawsuit to attempt to get compensation for medical bills, rehab costs, and other financial hardships that resulted from your injury.

Landlord Negligence

Landlords can't protect tenants against every conceivable situation, and aren't expected to, by law. To win your lawsuit, you must show landlord negligence. According to Cornell University School of Law, to prove negligence, five elements must be shown to be present. First, the landlord must have the legal duty to exercise reasonable care and second, he must have failed to exercise that duty. Actual physical harm must have resulted because of that neglect. You must also have accrued damages, financial or otherwise, from that physical harm. Finally, you must establish that the harm could have been avoided had the landlord exercised reasonable care.

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Examples of Landlord Neglect

Many examples of landlord negligence can contribute to a slip and fall. For example, the landlord may fail to remove snow and ice from the sidewalks of a multi-family property after a reasonable amount of time. Another example is a leaking roof or gutter that allows a puddle to form on steps when it rains. Yet another example is a landlord's failure to fix a sinking sidewalk section, causing a dangerously uneven footpath. To exercise your rights by filing a lawsuit over a slip and fall, know that the key criterion of landlord negligence is that he must have known about the hazard prior to the incident, or that the hazard must have existed for a long enough time that he should have known about it.

Tenant's Rights

Tenants have the right to live in a rental property that is reasonably safe from hazards, whether permanent or temporary. To file a lawsuit over a slip and fall due to landlord negligence, seek medical attention immediately. As soon as you can, contact a personal injury attorney who specializes in slip and fall cases. If possible, take pictures of the hazard, like a cracked sidewalk. Your attorney can also advise you on other ways to document the situation, such as contacting witnesses. Personal injury attorneys will guide you through the process of establishing negligence and getting compensation for your injuries.

References

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About the Author

Jenna Marie has been editing and writing professionally since 1993. Her editing background includes newspapers, magazines and books, and her articles have appeared in print and on websites such as Life123 and AccessNurses. She specializes in writing about parenting, frugal living, real estate, travel and food. Her nonfiction book was published in 2008. She earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Utah State University.